


Caught In The Middle

by ClothesBeam



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Metaverse (Persona 5), Host Clubs, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Sex Work, Threats of Violence, murder plots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:55:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29756493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClothesBeam/pseuds/ClothesBeam
Summary: Akira doesn’t even know how he got on the radar of his new company’s CEO, but refusing to go to a fancy hostess bar with him and his band of execs seems like it’d be a career-limiting move. While there, Akira soon learns his position is an enviable one to a group that’d like to get rid of Shido for good.And not cooperating with them might just end up being a life-limiting move.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira
Comments: 5
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The non-con aspect of this story is Shido being his gross self off-screen, so fairly canon typical I guess we can say.

If Akira had felt out of place taking notes in a board meeting earlier in the week, it was nothing compared to how he felt among the glitz and glamour of Roppongi’s high end bars and clubs at night. For this place in particular, the décor alone told him he’d struggle to so much as cover the entry fee with his meagre salary.

But for whatever reason, the CEO had noticed his existence during that meeting, and had enjoyed randomly making fun of him since. Apparently he was even prepared to do it out of hours at his own expense, too.

It seemed Shido was well known enough in these parts to not have to wait for anything. As soon as the woman waiting by the entrance saw him, she immediately came over to greet them. They were quickly led to a semi-private corner with a comfortable lounge setup.

She fetched some water and glasses before flashing them a bright smile. “Please make yourselves comfortable and I’ll let the girls know where you’re seated.”

One of the other men acknowledged her words because apparently Shido was above that. Akira had been too slow to avoid having to sit next to him, which was funny in a way because it meant the others were subtly avoiding him too. Resigned to his fate, Akira leaned an elbow on the table as he sipped his water.

“I booked the top four girls in this place. Being number one is important, isn’t it Akira-kun?”

He tried not to shrink back when Shido turned his full attention on him, but it did mean the rest of the group’s was on him too. Akira knew a vague agreement wasn’t going to cut it, but he’d never been particularly good at downplaying his own opinion.

And certainly not at straight out lying.

“Not always, I don’t think.”

Shido laughed loudly, hand thumping solidly against the middle of his back. Akira barely managed to avoid sprawling forward, but he tried to push his embarrassment down.

All he had to do was survive until the girls arrived. Then Shido wold have someone more interesting to focus his unwanted attention on. And if there were only four coming to the table, then Akira probably hadn’t been paired with one. He might even be able to sneak home early…

“I knew you’d say that,” Shido mocked. His grin was concerning. “But maybe you can be convinced that I’m right. I booked the top boy for you!”

Akira needed a moment to replay that one in his head. How had Shido even found out about something so personal?

Or was this just some bizarre flex?

“Er, what? Why?”

Shido’s look of undoubtedly fake concern was only more worrying. “Don’t think I didn’t take note of your reticence, Akira-kun. Any ordinary young man would be excited by the prospect of an all-expenses-paid chance to live out his desires.”

It was a struggle not to roll his eyes. Shido could keep his lechery to himself.

“But there’s no need to worry. As long as people can do the work required, I couldn’t give a damn about their preferences.”

“I see…” Akira replied slowly. But fortunately he was saved from having to openly admit anything by the arrival of their cohort.

The ladies were dressed in flattering, elegant dresses with carefully curled hair and a smattering of shiny and probably expensive accessories. Some of them had their hair dyed lighter, and most of them seemed to be in their late twenties at least. Akira guessed it was hard to make it in a place like this if they didn’t treat the job like a career.

Once the execs had made room for them to sit among them, Akira got a clearer view of the man who’d been standing at the back of the group. Somehow the fact he wasn’t in full on host-kei made things a little less awkward.

While his hair was relatively long, it worked to soften his face, and if he was wearing any makeup it was too subtle for Akira to notice. He wasn’t wearing a suit jacket—probably to avoid looking more formal than the other men at the table—but the waistcoat stopped his rolled up sleeves from looking too casual. Akira pretended he hadn’t noticed how closely fitted his slacks were.

“So I take it you’re Akira-kun,” he commented lightly, but he didn’t sit down until Akira nodded. He remained at a respectable distance and modestly folded his hands on the table in front of him. “I’ll admit, you weren’t what I was expecting when I heard Shido Masayoshi was coming here.”

At the mention of his name, Shido looked back at them. “Am I really that infamous?” he asked, though Akira was sure he knew full well.

“It pays to pay attention to these things,” the host joked, smiling pleasantly.

A few of the girls rolled their eyes at his joke, almost as if he was an annoying little brother. Akira supposed that was an appropriate dynamic given the composition of the group.

Shido gave an amused huff before turning back to the lady who’d sat down next to him. As Akira turned around he noticed something that might have been annoyance on the host’s face, but it faded back to his innocuous smile too quickly to be sure.

“To be fair, you weren’t quite what I was expecting either,” Akira said quietly. Somehow he was almost out of water already.

“Oh dear, am I unwittingly part of some kind of prank?” he teased as he reached for the water and another glass before filling them both. “You can call me Goro, by the way.” His eyes flickered in Shido’s direction once more, but they quickly returned to Akira now that the man was ignoring them.

Akira leaned his cheek against his hand. “Something like that. I thought you were supposed to use some corny nickname.”

He smiled and this time there was a subtle edge to it. “I think I’ve outgrown introducing myself as Sherlock.”

“Now that’s just embarrassing,” Akira said dryly. “Wouldn’t Moriarty be edgier?”

His mediocre knowledge about literature seemed to be of interest, but they were interrupted by the loud discussion at the other end of the table about getting some drinks. Akira cringed internally at the thought.

Some of it must have shown on his face because Goro leaned in and quietly said, “I’ll get us mocktails charged at full price if I can have one too.”

Of course he’d want to get paid while avoiding getting drunk as much as possible. “Deal,” Akira said quietly before the focus could return to them.

“Get me a bottle of this,” Shido interrupted. Based on the way the girls went silent, Akira guessed whatever he’d pointed out on the menu was expensive. Obviously Shido was here to show off above anything else.

Goro stood up. “I’ll go organise that one. Was there anything else?”

“Is that ok?” the hostess sitting on Shido’s other side asked, resting the back of her hand against his arm. Akira admired her bravery in some weird way. If he was in her situation he’d be running in the opposite direction.

Shido waved a hand, but it was obvious he wanted to show he could indulge their seemingly expensive tastes. “And a bottle of whatever the ladies would like.”

After confirming that yes, he did want to spend more than Akira’s annual wage on a bottle of champagne, Goro disappeared into the crowd of salary men, hostesses and waiters. Maybe he intended to make their drinks himself, but Akira didn’t think it was normal for hostesses to leave their clients alone.

Akira jumped when Shido elbowed him sharply. “You’ve never been to a place like this before, have you, Akira-kun?”

“Of course not,” he replied nervously. “When would I have been able to afford it?”

Shido laughed loudly again. It was still a mystery to Akira why he found his bluntness so amusing, but he supposed it was a good thing because he really couldn’t help himself most of the time.

“Well, no need to worry. The company card will pay for any expenses you rack up tonight.” Shido raised his eyebrows and gave him a significant look.

Akira could guess what Shido’s plans for the rest of the night were going to be. He supposed the hostess would go along with it in the hope he’d request her on an ongoing basis. The idea of it all made him feel mildly ill.

“Right…” Akira replied, and that seemed to satisfy Shido enough for him to turn his attention elsewhere again.

Of course it wouldn’t occur to Shido that he might prefer all this money go into a pay rise instead.

It was almost a relief when Goro returned with a pair of waiters to put out a round of glasses and the two overly expensive bottles of piss. Akira tried not to grimace when a tumbler was put in front of him, ice clinking.

The hostesses hurried to pour out the older men’s drinks before serving themselves, and then the stupidly expensive spirit was passed onto Goro. “Sorry,” he said quietly, but thankfully he only put a standard shot in the glass. If Akira let the ice melt a bit it should water it down enough to not matter much.

“Maybe this way they won’t ask questions about the other drink,” Akira said quietly as he picked the glass up and looked at the sunset coloured liquid. It wasn’t particularly garish, but he still wasn’t sure exactly what it was.

“I didn’t poison it,” Goro teased as he held his glass of actual liquor up for the round of cheers. Akira quickly, and not exactly smoothly, swapped his over and did the same. “I mean, unless you’re allergic to citrus.”

He wasn’t, but Akira didn’t have time to communicate that. He didn’t drank habitually, so it was hard not to grimace at the taste. But fortunately Shido seemed to be losing interest in him for real this time and didn’t comment on it.

Akira noticed the way Goro strategically drank just enough of his to show he’d tried it, but not so much that someone would offer to fill it back up. He’d be sure to do the same if anyone tried to give him more, and since it looked like the others were trying to start some kind of drinking game, that seemed likely.

“So, anyway, what kind of work do you do?” Goro asked casually, seemingly content to engage in some kind of conversation to try and avoid it too.

“Well, I just graduated with an accounting degree and was expecting to live out the rest of my days quietly counting beans,” Akira replied dryly, though part of him kind of wished things really had worked out that way now. “Instead it seems my name got pulled out of a hat to be the assistant to his assistant,” he added quietly, tilting his head in Shido’s direction to avoid using his name.

He got the feeling only the male graduates’ names had been on that list, given the way Shido’s hands were already hovering.

“And then… he found out you were gay?”

Akira sighed and took a long drink of the mocktail. “Apparently you have to be if you aren’t interested in going to places like this.” But he didn’t want to keep talking about his orientation while the execs were sitting so close. “I suppose you’d rather be encouraging girls to pimp themselves out for you right about now?”

Goro put a hand over his heart as if offended. “Excuse me?”

Akira rolled his eyes. “Is there any other way to earn so much? But still, isn’t it weird for a place like this to hire both hosts and hostesses?”

Goro shrugged one shoulder. “This kind of booking is unique, so I was called to stand in for the night by a friend. I usually work in a much less prestigious place, so don’t worry, I’m probably not making nearly as much as you think despite my vaulted status,” he added with a wink that somehow didn’t look awkward.

Akira snorted into his glass before deciding to turn his attention to the spirit he was going to have to drink before he could make an excuse about leaving early. It was funny, given how much Shido had talked this guy up earlier. But he supposed no one had technically lied.

“Well, you must be doing ok for yourself.”

Goro tilted his head. “Why do you say that?”

Akira paused, not entirely sure how to answer. “Well, I mean. You’re…” he vaguely waved a hand in his direction, trailing off when he realised what he was trying to get at.

But Goro only laughed. That certainly didn’t stop Akira from feeling like an idiot.

“Well thanks, I think. I do try to encourage my clients to be responsible. Though I do also need to live…”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Akira muttered, drinking a little more. Things were starting to get rowdy behind him. Hopefully he’d be able to start making an excuse soon.

But unfortunately it seemed Shido hadn’t forgotten about him entirely. He nudged Akira in the ribs once again, and he had no choice but to turn to face everyone else properly again. The bottles were significantly emptier than they had been before, and all the men were much pinker in the face.

“I didn’t think you’d be this much of a party pooper!” Shido said a little too loudly.

Akira smiled thinly. “Actually, I kind of have a headache…”

Shido’s mouth turned downward for the first time that night. It didn’t seem Akira would be escaping as easily as he’d hoped.

“Are those other noisy tables bothering you?” Goro asked suddenly as he leaned forward, smile back in place. “We can go somewhere quieter for a little while, then come back to join the fun properly later.”

Shido leaned back slightly, expression returning to normal. Maybe Goro, his saviour, wasn’t so bad after all.

“Oh, I see. Already, huh?” Shido asked with a raised brow. “I suppose these things are simpler when there’s another man involved,” he mused.

Actually, maybe he wasn’t that great.

“Very funny,” Akira muttered, clearly uncomfortable.

Goro stood up and Akira decided it was worth taking the out and following his lead. Let them think what they wanted to think.

They both nodded in the table’s general direction before grabbing what remained of their non-alcoholic drinks and leaving. Akira followed Goro to a narrow set of stairs he hadn’t noticed before. He guessed the customers were encouraged to use the elevators because when they arrived on the next floor it certainly looked like a back of house area.

They moved into some kind of cramped storage room and settled around the small table. Akira wondered if dodgy things normally happened back here, or if it really was just a break room.

Once the door was shut firmly behind them, Goro sighed and seemed to relax for the first time. “I can charge this to his card too, if you like,” he said quietly, a slight edge to his voice.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Akira admitted. “I expect to be getting enough shit over this as it is.”

There was something sympathetic in his look this time. “We don’t have to go back to the table. I’ll let you out the back once they’re drunk enough to not care anymore.”

“I’m surprised it’s taken this long, honestly. I’m not sure what he’s really trying to achieve. If he thinks I’m going to simper after him because he has more money than he’ll ever need, he’s going to be disappointed.”

Goro gave him a calculating look over the rim of his glass. His scrutiny was sharp, with little of what Akira now realised had likely been fake friendliness remaining.

“You work closely with Shido, don’t you? You have access to his meetings and calendar and all that?”

Akira felt his own guard go up at the strangeness of the question. “Obviously. Why?”

Goro glanced away, seemingly contemplating something, before returning his attention to him. “Listen, I’m not exactly his biggest fan. Clearly Shido doesn’t recognise me, but he really fucked me over in the past. If you can give me information on his movements sometimes, I’ll… Well, I’ll give you whatever you want.”

Akira blinked at him, startled. He guessed that’d been left open to interpretation for a reason.

“I don’t like him, obviously. But that’s kind of… I’d lose my job if I was found out. And if that happened, one of the female grads might be forced into this position. I can’t let that happen.”

Goro sat back slightly, seemingly surprised by his words. He bit the inside of his cheek for a moment before leaning his elbows on the table again.

“To someone like you, wanting revenge probably sounds silly. But the truth is, I’m the result of him fucking around like he does. And the only reason I do this work is that he never took responsibility for it.”

Akira could sympathise with that on some level. “What do you mean by revenge?”

Goro’s face twisted into something far nastier than he’d thought he was capable of. “I want to make him suffer.”

Obviously all of this was a messed up situation, but something didn’t feel right. Giving up the information seemed like it’d be a bad idea for more than just privacy reasons. “I can understand why you’d feel that way, but…”

Goro stood up and moved around the table. Akira tensed slightly and watched him carefully, but he just slid into the chair next to him.

“I mean it. I’ll give you anything you want. I know Shido has to be paying you as little as he can get away with.”

Akira shrugged. “It’s about the same as I’d get literally anywhere else at this point in my career. And I don’t really want your money, knowing what you’d do to get it.”

Goro shook his head slightly. “Where do you think that bastard gets his? I know you’re not that naïve. The economy is entirely based on people exploiting each other.”

“That’s not the point,” Akira muttered.

“There must be some kind of agreement we can come to. I know you’re not refusing out of a sense of loyalty,” Goro continued to press as he leaned forward slightly.

Akira sighed and looked away from him stubbornly. Goro deliberately rested a hand on his knee.

Akira abruptly pushed his chair back with a loud scrape and hurried to his feet. “I-I can’t give you what you want. I’m sorry,” he said quickly as he stumbled backward.

Goro seemed surprised by his reaction, but having him stand up and follow was the last thing Akira wanted. Especially when he made sure to get between Akira and the door.

“Hey, I’m sorry for misreading the situation. But if there’s really no way we can come to an agreement, then I need to make a few things clear.” As he moved closer, Akira backed into the wall even though he knew that would only make things worse for himself. “You aren’t going to tell anyone about this, are you?”

“Going to the police probably wouldn’t be the worst idea I’ve ever had,” Akira muttered, noting his sense of self-preservation was indeed still absent.

Goro’s frown grew and suddenly his breath had been knocked out of him as Goro slammed him against the wall, hands curled around his lapel. “Then you must have done some pretty fucking stupid things in the past.” One of his hands moved to get something out of his pocket, and Akira’s brow shot up when he realised that yes that was a knife blade that’d just flicked out.

“Ok, ok, I get it!” he said quickly. “If you leave me alone I’ll keep my mouth shut. And I won’t get in your way. At least, not deliberately,” he amended.

His bad feeling from before had been a sign he should’ve been running, after all. But he wasn’t going to help some guy maim or possibly even kill someone else, no matter how deplorable that someone was.

Thankfully at that the knife disappeared back into his pocket. This guy was clearly insane.

“Give me your contact details. I need to make sure of that.” Goro released him and took half a step back, so Akira reluctantly reached for his phone. “And if you decide to change your mind, I’ll want to know about that too.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Akira muttered, unable to help himself.

Thankfully Goro just looked amused this time. “We’ll see if you’re still thinking that way after you’ve had a chance to see how awful he is up close.”

Akira sighed through his nose, but decided saying nothing was the better option.

Once Goro had all his information bar his home address, he finally stepped back properly. “Well, I should probably let you out of here. But you know, if you help me, I can do a lot to help you.”

“Uh huh.”

As promised, Goro led him down a different set of stairs to what seemed to be a service entrance for deliveries. He smiled innocuously, as though nothing had happened. It was almost creepy.

“Thanks for visiting us today! Come again soon!”

Akira nodded hesitantly before turning away and walking back to the station as fast as he could. Only once he was on the train home did he realise it was entirely possible he’d soon be dragged out there again by Shido.

This Goro problem wasn’t going to go away on its own.


	2. Chapter 2

Akira had almost convinced himself everything that’d happened last week was just a dream. Either that or a nightmare. But barely tolerating the whole experience seemed to have changed something at work, because lately he’d been given even more responsibility over organising Shido’s calendar and taking messages for him.

It made him wonder whether it had all been some kind of test. He hoped so, for the sake of his own hide.

Either way, he was looking forward to enjoying this weekend in the privacy of his own home. Maybe he could get Ryuji to come over and distract him with video games and endless banter about the people he trained at the gym. Or more likely, whichever girl he was seeing at the moment.

Akira dragged himself up the last of his building’s stairs and turned the corner into his hallway. He hesitated when he saw someone was leaning against the door to his apartment. Although he looked quite different in more casual clothes, it wasn’t hard for Akira to guess who.

When Goro looked up at him he knew it was too late to turn around and try to leave. As Akira approached he pushed away from the door and stood in the middle of the hallway with his arms folded.

“Welcome home,” Goro said dryly.

Akira sighed as he pulled his keys out and unlocked the door. “If you’re going to make stalking me a habit, can we at least make it a rule that you don’t bring your knife along?”

Goro followed him inside and closed and locked the door behind him. “I’ll consider it.”

Once his shoes were off, Akira went to his room and put his bag down. Normally he’d get changed right away, but he supposed he should take care of his unwanted houseguest first. When he returned to the living area he saw Goro was already sitting at the low table looking perfectly comfortable with being in his space. Almost like he’d been there before.

Akira narrowed his eyes. “Did you break in earlier?”

Goro gave him his host smile and didn’t answer. But really, that was more than enough of one.

“Why are you here?” Akira asked instead as he moved to make some tea. He needed something to comfort him, and even if his guest was unwanted it felt odd not to offer.

“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. And I felt hurried into trying to convince you, so I don’t think I really took your personality into proper consideration while trying to come to an agreement. I want you to come with me and meet some other people who have had their families destroyed by Shido.”

Akira frowned as he brought the small tea set over before sitting by the opposite corner of the table, as far from Goro as he could get. “Forgive me if I don’t feel comfortable going anywhere with you.”

Goro smirked at him before pouring the tea out for both of them. “You say that like I’m giving you a choice.” He put the teapot back down and brought his cup closer. “But I still think you should be aware of just what your employer gets up to outside of his accounting business.”

“And what’s that?” Akira asked, guessing he wasn’t going to get rid of the intruder until he’d let him say his piece.

“I’ve uncovered a lot of his shadier business over the years. While the company you work at would be a profitable enough venture for most people, he’s using the money to collect allies by doing favours for people. Sometimes they involve commissioning someone’s death.”

It hadn’t taken him long to figure out Shido was a pig, but he was going to need actual evidence to believe such serious claims. “Like who?”

“A more famous example is the owner of Okumura Foods. It seems his chain stores were stepping on the toes of some bigger and more established companies. His only child has been trying to pick up the pieces for the last four years.”

“How do you know Shido was involved?” Given the personal nature of Goro’s issue with him, bias certainly wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“We intercepted communications between him and people who worked at the rival company. They caused the car accident by messing up the traffic signals for a short time.”

It was definitely a disquieting thought. But it was possible for things like that to happen by chance. It could be a coincidence, or even the result of someone else’s actions.

Or maybe Akira was just trying to justify his own position because he knew he’d need a few years of experience under his belt before he could successfully apply to another company.

“If that is what happened then it’s really… But still, I…”

Goro put his now empty cup down with a small sigh. “I know, it’s difficult to believe and harder to prove, but that’s just how these people operate. That’s why I was trying to get you on my side through means other than a moral appeal.”

“If I had any kind of choice, I wouldn’t be a PA, and certainly not to someone so awful. But saying he’s a murderer still seems like a stretch. Even if some of his meetings are at weird times with strange people.”

Goro shook his head slightly. “All of this would be a lot simpler if you’d just tell me about those meetings in exchange for getting your dick sucked.”

Akira flushed. “I already told you, not going to happen.”

Goro got to his feet and put his hands back in his jacket pockets. “Then I guess you don’t have a problem with me dragging you around the city tomorrow to meet people actually being affected by him.” He seemed to find Akira’s annoyed expression amusing, but didn’t give him a chance to interrupt. “Being away from the club on a weekend night is really going to cost me a lot, so don’t try to flake out.”

“I don’t see how that’s my problem.”

“Maybe I’ll respect your wishes about the knife if you stop being so rude,” he replied, adopting his friendly smile. Of course it was mostly just creepy now.

Akira hunched over. He’d rather not hang out with crazy at all, but it seemed he wasn’t being given much choice. Especially since it was entirely possible Goro would just break into his home again to drag him out if he needed to.

“Be ready by ten tomorrow, ok?” he added before making his way over to the door. He put his shoes on and then he was gone just as quickly as he’d appeared.

Akira folded his arms on the table in front of him and rested his head on them. Why couldn’t he have just been offered a normal job?

* * *

It turned out Okumura wasn’t as crazy as her partner in crime, which only added to Akira’s confusion. Part of him had been expecting them all to be tinfoil hat types, but she seemed to be about as normal as someone who’d inherited more wealth than she’d need in a hundred lifetimes could be.

“We’ve had to cut back a lot lately while we try to balance good working conditions with operational requirements, but if you ever see an opening for a junior accountant please do submit an application,” she continued. “Shido is dangerous, and you really don’t seem to know what you’re getting yourself into.”

Akira felt offended by that, though he knew he probably shouldn’t. Goro straightened in the chair next to him.

“Don’t say that, we need him to be where he is.”

Okumura shook her head. “If he’s not interested in helping us, then what does it matter if he has access to the information we need? I think we should try to get one of our own people into that position.”

“You know they’re chosen at random for a reason.”

“Hmm…”

Akira guessed they’d had this conversation before. But he still wasn’t willing to offer himself up as the solution.

Okumura sighed when her phone started ringing again. “Excuse me, I’m so sorry,” she said before picking it up. “What is it?”

The longer the person on the other end spoke, the tighter her mouth became. She inhaled deeply, and Akira jumped when her high pitched tone turned aggressive.

“I told them they must give any employees that are going to be cut off at least a month’s notice!” There was a brief pause. “I don’t care if they’re casuals! They deserve to be treated with dignity, not just at the bare legal minimum!”

Akira wondered if he should start making excuses about leaving. She was clearly busy, though he guessed that kind of spoke to how important this discussion was to her.

And obviously Goro would stop him before he could get too far.

“Then perhaps you should remind him about the axe I keep on my balcony,” she added through gritted teeth. Akira immediately felt more nervous. “Good! Don’t call me again unless it’s urgent. I have another meeting!”

She hung up with a high pitched humph before folding her hands on the table again. She took a sip of tea and seemed to visibly cool down.

Since he wasn’t going to get out of this conversation, Akira figured he may as well spur it on. “So um, you’re really convinced Shido’s the one who caused the accident your father was in?”

She nodded firmly. “It’s not hard to see that a company that considered ours a rival was the direct benefactor. And even Futaba-chan is convinced there was something fishy about the logs in the traffic control system at that time. But of course she only had a chance to look at it a few years after the incident, so some things have since been deleted.”

Akira glanced between them at the mention of a new name. “I’m taking you to meet her next,” Goro explained briefly. “Though you’ll find she has a similar story to tell.”

“You are?” Okumura asked quietly. “Maybe I should give you a chance to decompress before you head off, then. It’s quite tragic.”

Akira ran a hand through his already messy hair. “Look, the more I have to spend time around Shido, the more I hate his guts. But this still sounds like lizard people levels of ridiculous conspiracy theory. How can you be so sure he orchestrated this?”

Goro and Okumura shared a significant look. He guessed there was something else, but maybe telling him was too much of a risk when he wasn’t completely on their side.

“When you look at how money moves around, it can be quite revealing,” Okumura began cautiously. “I’m sure the information you have access to would be quite enlightening for us in that regard too.”

“Even if he is guilty of everything you think, is killing him really… appropriate?”

“Yes,” Goro said without hesitation, but Okumura didn’t look so ready to agree.

“Normally I’d say no, but if all of this went to court, he’d find a way to weasel out of the normal and expected level of punishment. He’s not going to stop what he’s doing unless someone makes him. And if making him comes down to doing something drastic, then…” She shook her head slightly. “Well, I’m willing to go that far if it means there aren’t any more victims.”

These people were terrifying, but at the same time, part of him could understand what she meant. Even he could only do damage control for so long before Shido caught on and replaced him with someone he could turn into a target.

The sombre mood was broken when Goro started slightly and pulled his phone out. “Futaba’s asking where we are. We should get going soon.”

“Oh, well, it was nice to see you. And nice to meet you, Akira-san.” He couldn’t honestly say the same, so he just nodded. “Tell Futaba-chan I said hello.”

* * *

Akira was surprised when he realised Goro was taking him to his old stomping ground. Through most of his degree he’d worked part time in a café in Yongen whenever the owner needed a day off, but he hadn’t had much reason to return after getting a full time job offer on a different train line. He wondered how Boss was doing, and whether he could sneak away from Goro to get a coffee afterward.

Though he could probably use the extra customer...

When they came to a halt, Akira frowned at the nameplate on the gate. He’d known Boss lived around here somewhere, but he’d never seen his house before.

“Are you sure this is the right place?”

Goro looked at him like he was the crazy one between them. “I think I’ve been here enough times to know.” He pushed the gate open and moved over to the front door when it opened slightly. When it opened wider Akira followed him inside, still confused.

A short woman wearing big glasses closed the door behind them. Akira guessed it was possible Boss had family he’d never told him about, but it just seemed too weird for it not to have come up at all in the three or so years they’d worked together. Was his house being used while he was out or something?

Akira looked down when he heard a familiar meow demand his attention. Morgana rubbed against his legs, weaving in between them. Akira automatically bent over to scratch his head. It wasn’t like he could touch the cat much when he was actually working. Mostly he just chased it back into the attic when people were around.

“What? You little traitor!” Futaba exclaimed as she picked Morgana up and held him in the air. “How dare you go to a complete stranger for cuddles when I’m right here!”

Akira wasn’t sure whether he should point out that he wasn’t a stranger or not. In the end he decided to keep quiet, and just let Futaba lead them up the stairs. They went into a small bedroom that only felt smaller given all the screens and devices she had stacked on her huge desk. She sat in the chair and Goro sat on her bed as she spun around.

“Sit!” she commanded as she pointed at the other end of the bed. Akira didn’t dare not. “So?” she asked as she glanced between them.

“He’s not telling us what we want to know because we don’t have ‘proof’ of Shido’s involvement,” Goro explained without any preamble.

Futaba frowned. “Well, yours is undeniable, isn’t it?”

Goro frowned at her and shook his head slightly. Futaba put a hand over her mouth like she’d said something she wasn’t supposed to.

“Oh, well… Hm.” She fidgeted as she looked down. Her bottom lip trembled. “So, Mum and I were walking home after eating out one night when this car sped down the street and slammed into her.” Futaba hunched over and picked Morgana up so she could bring her knees up. He wriggled out of her grip before jumping up on the bed and spreading his cat hair over the back of Akira’s jacket.

“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s upsetting,” Akira said quickly, already feeling uncomfortable. Goro could have given him some kind of heads up, or explained the tough parts beforehand.

“No! It’s important for you to hear,” she protested even as she hugged her knees closer. “It’s hard to be taken seriously as an eyewitness when you’re twelve, so somehow the maniac in the car got off on reckless driving charges. Meanwhile, I’ve been too afraid to go outside for the last ten years.”

Akira absently reached down to scratch Morgana’s jaw in the spot he knew he loved, and he immediately started purring loudly. “Dare I ask what Shido’s connection to all this is?”

“Well, that was the hard part to figure out. It took me a few years to get my skills up, but eventually I got good enough to go snooping without being caught. See, Mum had been about to file a patent some sleazy business guy had been trying to buy off her for months. But she wanted her work to be public domain.”

Futaba unwound from the ball she’d forced herself into and rolled her chair a little closer. Clearly this was the part she did want to talk about.

“It took years of searching through the grossest corners of the internet, but I finally found some archived posts where someone was bragging about taking care of a particular ‘target’. I think back then they still had to advertise themselves, but anyway, from there I was able to hack the account and get leads back into the real world.

“Their money laundering operation is pretty full on, but the longer I watched them, the more I could narrow things down. Shido was one of several dodgy people I was suspicious of, and what do you think I found while going through records of court cases that had been filed against him?”

Futaba gestured broadly in Goro’s direction. Clearly wary of what she was about to say, Goro took over.

“It was very fortunate that she found out about me. I’d heard about the case with Isshiki-san while doing my own research, but hadn’t made the connection yet. But if you ask the right person about the right thing, you’d be amazed by what they’ll admit to.”

“Yeah, like half his customers are hostesses themselves,” Futaba added. “With the way Shido and his cronies get around, it’s not too hard to find girls he’s said too much in front of.”

“Especially if all they want is a sympathetic someone to listen to how much of an asshole he is,” Goro added. “Though Futaba’s skills are much more reliable than hearsay.”

Futaba giggled quietly. “Well, we all have our own strengths.”

“And you want my access because that’s the most reliable information of all,” Akira muttered as he lightly ran his fingers over Morgana’s now exposed belly.

“Yeah, so if you’d just ‘accidentally’ tell me your password, we can take it from there,” Futaba said cheerfully.

“But that’s so…” He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees.

“Alternatively, I could just threaten to ruin your career by spreading embarrassing shit about you. Just think how great having your internet history sent to everyone in your company would be!”

“W-what?”

“Futaba,” Goro scolded. “There’s no need to go threatening that kind of thing yet.”

“ _Yet_?” Akira demanded. “Then I really would have a reason to go to the police, wouldn’t I?”

Goro put his hands in his jacket pockets, but thankfully they stayed there. “We’ve already discussed why you shouldn’t do that, so stop bringing it up.”

“Just like we’ve already discussed why I can’t help you, so you should stop bringing that up?” Akira retorted.

“No, because you’re wrong and this is important.”

Akira sighed, clearly in disagreement, but it seemed there was no reasoning with these people. Though they probably felt the same way about him.

“If we’re done, I should go. There’s some work I need to finish off before Monday.”

“And that is?” Futaba asked slyly.

Akira folded his arms and kept his stony expression. She just laughed.

“Don’t forget to go get coffee from Dad on your way home,” she added, seemingly more directed at Goro than him.

Now that she’d brought it up so directly, Akira couldn’t just ignore the fact. And he was kind of curious as well. “Do you mean Sakura Sojiro’s café?”

Futaba almost fell out of her chair. “Whaaat!? He’s a double agent, Goro! Get rid of him!”

Akira rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. Morgana head-butted the back of his leg and he reached back to scratch him again. “No, I just used to work in Leblanc until recently. But he never mentioned he had a daughter, so I was confused.”

“Wait, you’re _that_ Akira!?” She pointed an accusatory finger. “Tokyo isn’t that small, buddy.”

Akira shrugged one shoulder. “You can ask him yourself, if you want. I should go say hi before I head home.”

“All right, well, don’t say anything about this to him. Or else.” She tried to glare at him threateningly, but it wasn’t all that effective. Though her previous threat was still front of mind, so he kept his mouth shut. “Kind of explains why Mona is so friendly with you though. I keep telling Sojiro he should just open a cat café.”

“I don’t think cat hair and curry go together very well,” Akira replied as he made his way over to the door. Goro followed him closely, and Akira guessed he was going to make sure he didn’t say anything unnecessary. “See you,” Akira added awkwardly.

Goro raised a hand and Futaba waved back. Before they left the property, Goro gave him a once over with narrowed eyes. Akira knew a coincidence like this had to seem insanely suspicious.

Akira quickly walked past him, hoping he would be less likely to stab him in the back in broad daylight. And if he was actually friendly with Leblanc’s owner, hopefully he wouldn’t want to leave a mess there.


	3. Chapter 3

When they stepped into the café, Boss seemed happy enough to see him. “Akira! Couldn’t stay away, huh?” When Goro walked past him he added, “Oh, you two know each other?”

“Unfortunately,” Akira said dryly.

He wagged a finger. “What’d I tell you about scaring customers away?”

“That you already manage to do it well enough yourself?” Akira hazarded as he glanced around the empty café.

He sighed, but Akira could tell he was amused somewhere under there. “Just tell me what you want, shit head.” He turned away, presumably to start making Goro’s regular.

Akira chose something he knew he wouldn’t be able to get easily elsewhere as he took a seat at the counter. His knife-wielding shadow sat next to him.

“Here I was thinking I could show Akira-kun this trendy little place no one knows about,” Goro joked lightly as a cup was put down in front of him. “Thanks,” he added as he handed over some cash.

“Huh, I guess it’s kind of a coincidence that you two didn’t encounter each other here before. Akira only quit a few months ago.”

“I didn’t quit, I regretfully withdrew my interest,” Akira teased as a cup was put down in front of him. He insisted on paying for it.

“I was going to bribe you to watch the place while I go have a smoke,” he admitted.

Akira shrugged. “You can if you want. I’ll keep an eye on this troublemaker.”

Sojiro chuckled. “All right, I’ll take you up on it, then.”

Once he’d taken off his apron and vanished into the street outside, Akira sighed and leaned his elbow against the bar. He really did miss working here, but a half day here and there wasn’t nearly enough to cover the cost of living on his own.

He glanced over at Goro when he noticed he hadn’t touched his coffee yet. He was frowning as he stared into the middle distance, and Akira guessed he was trying to put things together. But he really didn’t want him to come to the wrong conclusion.

“I’ve gotta say, this is the weirdest date I’ve ever been on,” Akira joked absently.

Goro blinked a couple of times before turning to look at him. “Well, I didn’t have much success with the usual route.” When Akira glanced down at his untouched drink again, he seemed to notice. “I couldn’t work last night because I had to actually be awake during the day, so I’ll need to go to sleep as soon as I get home.”

The fact he’d still bought something anyway was certainly interesting. “Oh.”

“Did you mention working here on your CV when you applied for your job?” Goro asked, suddenly much more serious.

Akira nodded slightly. “My parents wouldn’t let me work in high school, so he was my only option for a proper referee.”

Goro looked disturbed by the fact. “Great.”

“You think I was chosen deliberately?”

Goro ran a hand through his hair. He shifted in his seat as he seemed to realise something. “Actually, no, I don’t. He didn’t seem to have an issue with the fact I’d been hired for that night. Even if he is aware someone is looking into him, he can’t know our identities.”

“Wait, so he did pay you to ask all that?”

“It was a fortunate coincidence that I was asked to fill the role, but obviously I would have reported back favourably either way.” He turned in his seat to face him properly. “Why? Has it made a difference already?”

Akira nodded. “It might just be that they trust me to do the job properly now, but I’ve been seeing a lot more than I did in my first few weeks.”

Goro tapped his fingers against the counter, clearly irritated. “Not that it matters, right?”

Akira ducked his head. “I wouldn’t say that.” He wasn’t sure how to bring up the elephant in the room, but being direct had worked out so far. “Are you really intent on killing him?”

“My entire life has been a disaster thanks to him. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, for a start, it’s not something you can undo. I mean, if I saw evidence of illegal activity I wouldn’t be against collecting it for later use,” Akira began cautiously. He didn’t want to give Goro the wrong idea. “You know, anything that’d assist with prosecuting him successfully.”

Goro tilted his head. “That might be enough to satisfy Haru. But I don’t think you understand how much I want to make him suffer. He’s caused so much unbearable pain, I don’t know how anything less can be called justice.”

“There has to be another way,” Akira said quietly. His fingers closed a little tighter around the warm cup. “Doesn’t he still win if you have to lower yourself to his level?”

He wasn’t sure how to read Goro’s immediate reaction to his words, but the bell over the door rang before he could respond properly. Boss made his way back behind the counter and Goro soon got to his feet.

“I should be going,” he announced.

Sojiro nodded and gave him a small wave as he headed out. Goro glanced back at Akira briefly before letting the door swing shut behind him. Only then did Sojiro seem to notice he hadn’t touched his drink.

He sighed. “Another wasted cup.”

Akira raised an eyebrow. “Does this happen a lot?”

“Not really, but still more than I’d like. If he wants an excuse to support my business, he could at least get food he can take home with him or something.”

“I guess,” Akira agreed quietly. Maybe he just didn’t like curry.

Akira let Sojiro catch him up on what had been going on with his other regulars, since all he had to offer about his own work was general platitudes. But it was still nice to get some normalcy in his day. He got the feeling that was going to be few and far between from now on.

* * *

Akira was just about packed up and ready to go home when he saw a new appointment pop up in Shido’s calendar. Going home before the boss was usually a faux pas, but as Shido was always saying, as long as people got the work done he didn’t care what they did or when.

His immediate supervisor had already left for a medical appointment, so he was the only one in the general vicinity of Shido’s office. Something really didn’t feel right, so Akira checked the meeting attendees. He felt mildly ill when he saw it was just an appointment between Shido and one of the female new starters.

It was too suspicious to ignore, but when another email came in Akira automatically shifted half his attention to it. The message was marked as urgent, attention to Shido, so maybe he could just…

As hesitant footsteps passed his desk, Akira paused and looked up. The girl avoided looking at him, but he recognised her from the induction training they’d all been shoved in together. She looked apprehensive, like she was just as aware of what could happen next.

Akira couldn’t just ignore this.

He all but stumbled out of his seat as he hurried over to the door to Shido’s office. “Excuse me,” he said quietly as he reached past her for the door handle. He slid it open and stepped around her before she could say anything. “Shido-sama, I’m sorry to interrupt when you have another meeting, but there’s an email from Kaneshiro-san I thought should be brought to your attention right away.”

Shido looked up from his screen with a frown before looking for the message. Akira tried to relax his tense posture, but he knew if this was dismissed as unimportant, he’d have to do something more drastic to rock the boat.

Shido’s eyes slid from side to side as he read, and the further he got the deeper his frown became. “I see. I will need to take care of this now.” Akira nodded before backing out of the doorway. “Reschedule this meeting for another time,” he added absently.

“I… I’ll see what I can do,” Akira said, struggling to maintain the correct level of politeness. He’d rather encourage her to look for work elsewhere, but of course that’d be just as difficult for her at this point as it was for him.

When it seemed Shido had lost interest in them, Akira closed the door. He found he wasn’t the only one sighing in relief.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Akira nodded stiffly before moving back over to his desk. “I’ll tell him your schedule is unpredictable for the next week if he ends up asking why I haven’t booked another time.” He hoped Shido would just forget it, but he doubted it’d be that easy.

She glanced nervously back at the door before nodding quickly. “Well then, I should go,” she mumbled before doing just that.

Akira figured he should do the same. He shut down his work station and put his jacket back on before heading out. He was fine while he was hurrying through the dark streets, but the next train was at least ten minutes away. Waiting on the platform gave him way too much time to think about what had just almost happened.

He’d always known Shido was gross, but creeping on a young lady with few to no viable options for getting away from him was just too much. He could guess what would’ve happened if he had have left even five minutes earlier. Or, if that email had never come in, there wouldn’t have been a way for him to smoothly defuse the situation.

It gave him the creeps and made his innards clench uncomfortably, almost like he wanted to physically be sick too. There was no guarantee things would go smoothly next time. But there wasn’t really anything he could do about it.

At least, not on his own.

Akira got on the next train and sat down heavily. He took his phone out and opened the message Goro had sent yesterday to give him a heads up that Shido had made another end of week booking that involved him. That meant it’d inevitably involve Akira as well, he was sure.

Akira wrote his message quickly, but hesitated over sending it until he got to his changeover. But he had a responsibility to explore all the options available to him, right? He also couldn’t afford to lose his first real job so soon.

_We need to talk._

He was surprised to get a reply by the time he got home, since Goro was probably either at work or getting ready to go by now.

_Come with me to the club before it opens tomorrow night._

Akira huffed quietly to himself, but given the circumstances, he didn’t think he could complain about receiving messages that sounded so suspicious. He put his dinner in the microwave before responding so they could sort out the when and where.

He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to strike a compromise, but he had to try.


	4. Chapter 4

Akira tried to keep a straight face when Goro pinned his hair back, but there was something amusing about the way it stuck out to the side. The first step of getting ready for work seemed to be preparing his face for the actual makeup, but Akira had given up trying to make sense of what he was doing by the time he pulled the third product out.

“So, now that the issue is more personal, it seems more real,” Goro summarised once he’d finished listening to Akira’s explanation of what he’d witnessed. He started applying concealer, which seemed more heavy-handed than anything Akira had seen on his face before. He wondered if it was just expected in a venue that catered to a younger crowd.

“I guess you can say that,” Akira replied. “It’s more that I realised he’s currently a threat to someone who can’t do much about it.”

“So what do you want me to do?” Goro asked as he started the next step of his routine. Akira gathered he was using different things to put colour and depth back into his face.

Akira folded his arms and looked away from Goro’s reflection. “Obviously I still think killing him is wrong. But I can gather evidence about his activities that can be used to take legal action.”

Goro frowned for a moment, but then had to relax his face so he could do something to his eyebrows.

“I know you already said that’s going to be ineffective,” Akira acknowledged. “But if he’s really as bad as you say, there has to be some way to catch him out. Some way to make him face the consequences of his actions.”

“And what if that does fail, and he just goes right back to being his usual terrible self?” Goro unpinned his hair and carefully started combing it back into place, spraying the sections he was satisfied with so they’d stay there for the night.

“Then you can do what you think is necessary,” Akira mumbled. Something like that had to be a last resort.

“Oh, well, as long as I have your permission,” Goro snarked as he turned his head side to side, meticulously checking his appearance. “Hold that up behind me,” Goro said as he pointed to the round mirror sitting further down the long vanity bench.

Akira stood up and did as asked. Goro frowned when he saw his reflection, but Akira thought he’d realised what had caught his attention. He automatically reached out to reposition the errant strands.

Goro glared at him sharply in the mirror, but didn’t comment. He simply applied a bit of hairspray to the spot. And Akira’s hand.

He tried to be subtle about wiping it clean on his pants, but Goro had already turned around in the chair. He smirked and tossed a small hand towel at him.

“Don’t tell me you prefer the natural look after all that.”

“But you pull it off so well,” Akira retorted dryly.

Goro hummed as he took the mirror and put it back on the vanity. “Well, the artificiality does reduce the chance of me being recognised on the street, so I’m not changing it now.”

Akira returned the towel, which meant he had nothing to do now but wring his hands. “Anyway, is this something you’re willing to work together on, or are you just going to pretend to agree to get what you want?”

Goro raised his hand as though he was going to lean his cheek against it, but then seemed to think better of it. “It would be easy to stab you in the back and take what I want,” he admitted slowly. “But you’d rather take that risk than let things continue as they are.”

Akira realised he wasn’t wrong. He frowned and stuck his hand out to shake. “Then at least promise me you won’t. It’s not like trying this first is going to stop you from doing what you want. If it doesn’t work out, I mean.”

Goro remained dignified as he slowly stood up. His eyes shifted between Akira’s hand and his face.

“Fine,” he eventually replied. “But if destroying him is out of the question, I’d rather we focus on using that information to tear apart everything he’s built.” When Akira nodded Goro took his hand firmly, eyes drilling into him. “But if someone else gets hurt while you’re taking your sweet time to mess around, don’t blame me.”

Akira stubbornly held his gaze. It was hard to tell whether all this was a lie too, but he somehow doubted it. In the end, he was the first to look away and retreat.

“What?” Goro demanded.

“You’re not wrong about that being a real possibility,” Akira said quietly, turning away slightly as he folded his arms loosely. “I’ll do whatever I can to prevent it, but your original revenge plan is way too extreme.”

“You’re a soft idiot,” Goro muttered.

“Probably.”

Fingertips lightly came to rest on his jaw and Akira started slightly. He looked at Goro when he took half a step closer, crowding him back against the wall of the narrow dressing room.

“Maybe it’s not the worst thing to be,” Goro commented quietly. “But that asshole doesn’t deserve your or anyone else’s mercy.”

“Why do you say that?” Akira asked, having to glance between Goro’s eyes to maintain eye contact now that he was so close.

“When my mother practically begged him for it, he denied her over and over. Until she couldn’t take it anymore, and she did the only thing she could to remove herself from those circumstances,” he explained quietly. “It isn’t like paying child support would have inhibited his lifestyle in the slightest. But he knew this ‘problem’ would resolve itself eventually. Good luck getting official channels to lay the blame on him, though.”

Akira didn’t know how to respond to something like that. He looked away, but when it felt like Goro was going to withdraw, he put a hand on his elbow. They both paused as their eyes met once again.

“I can understand why you’d want to get revenge for something like that. But you don’t have to follow his example.”

“You think I can be better than that?” Akira got the impression he’d intended to sneer at him, but Goro’s tone was far too tenuous.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Akira asked softly. “Besides, don’t you think making him live with the fact you’ve taken his money would be more satisfying?” When Goro’s eyes widened slightly he leaned forward, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to close what remained of the slight gap between them.

But he hesitated when the pad of Goro’s thumb pressed against his lips instead. He stepped away from him and Akira let his arms fall back down by his sides. After a beat Goro gave him a fake smile and took another step back, his hand falling away as well.

“Come on now, I only just managed to get my makeup on properly.”

Akira felt something well up in his chest, but he had no clue how to put it into words. So instead he just nodded. “Sorry.”

“The others will start arriving to get ready soon,” Goro said as he glanced down at his watch. “You should get going.”

“Right,” Akira replied softly as he picked up his bag. He followed Goro as he led him through the softly lit room of lounges and booths that made up the main part of the club.

Goro opened the door that led out onto the street and stepped back to let him pass. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Akira wanted to interpret it as a reminder that they’d get to talk more later. But while he’d quickly learnt to recognise when Goro was hiding something, what he was hiding and why wasn’t always so obvious.

“See you then.”

Akira made his way back to the station, not wanting to be seen hanging around a host club. Not that he really had to worry about his boss finding out. At least, not for the usual reasons.

He checked his phone when he got to the station to find the message he’d received was from Goro.

_I don’t want you to be wrong._

About his ability to do better than his father, Akira assumed.

_That’s up to you._

* * *

Akira was trying to look enthusiastic about being at the hostess club once again, but a lie that big was beyond him. For better or worse, Shido seemed to find it funny anyway.

“We’re going to make you have fun properly tonight!” he insisted as they sat around the same table as last time. Since Shido was talking to him, Akira got stuck sitting next to him once again, much to his dismay.

The same group as last time soon joined them at the table. This time they’d brought a few bottles over, probably purchased in advance with the booking. The women lightly complained about how long it’d been since they’d seen them last. Goro remained quiet at the back of the group until the others had settled in.

It seemed Goro had brought an extra bottle of water over specifically for them. Akira guessed there was going to be no way to avoid getting shit-faced this time.

“Long time no see,” Goro said quietly as he put his things down. He flicked his suit jacket back as he sat.

Akira noted he’d gone light on the hair and makeup again, and wondered whether it was because of the establishment or for his benefit. This time he had a few shirt buttons open to show the slash of red silk neatly tucked around his neck.

“Yeah,” Akira agreed, and somehow managed to avoid smiling at what felt like a joke. Of course they’d seen each other several times since then, but it’d be better if no one else was aware of that.

When he noticed Shido was pouring a drink for him, Akira straightened uncomfortably. “Thank you,” he had to force himself to say, since it was so unorthodox.

This time there seemed to be more chatter and fewer drinking games overall, to Akira’s relief. But he guessed they didn’t really need the icebreaker anymore. Akira could tell Goro was trying to keep a surface level conversation going so he could listen to what was being discussed around them, but Akira was already struggling to concentrate on that much.

“Hurry up,” Shido suddenly mocked. “You’re going to fall behind again at this rate.”

“I don’t usually drink that much, so it’s probably for the better,” Akira muttered, but he could already see Shido was having none of it this time.

“Nonsense! I have a better idea, anyway,” he said as he turned to the hostess next to him. “Let’s get some shots.”

Of course she immediately agreed. It was basically her job to sell alcohol, after all. She called over one of the waiters, and then everyone at the table suddenly had a small glass in front of them.

“Don’t worry so much, Akira-kun,” the hostess teased him. He felt kind of bad that he still had no idea what her name was. “Goro-kun will look after you if you have too much.”

“You can trust me,” he teased brightly.

They had tried to establish that yesterday, hadn’t they? Akira nodded, probably looking far too serious, before tipping the drink back along with everyone else.

It really didn’t take long for what little of a verbal filter he had to vanish entirely. He really needed to build up a tolerance to this stuff before the two of them actually got up to anything Shido might find suspicious.

Goro pushed his glass of water closer while he laughed at someone else’s joke. Akira could appreciate the subtle reminder, and focused on sipping it for a while.

At first he frowned when Goro poured another double of Shido’s liquor into his tumbler, but then he realised he’d probably taken the bottle so he could control how much he was being given. Of course he had to pour for himself too, but when Goro did this on a near daily basis, his tolerance had to be much better.

“So, how has your first month on the job been?” Shido asked suddenly. Or maybe Akira just hadn’t been paying attention.

The words left his mouth before he even had a chance to think about them. It was a little frightening, really. “Boring, but I guess that’d be the same anywhere.”

Shido laughed loudly. “I wonder how much longer you’ll be saying that for?” He took a sip of his own drink before continuing. “Aren’t you glad this is one of the perks?” he asked as he gestured at their surroundings.

“I don’t get why you spend so much here,” Akira listened to his own voice say even as he had more of the drink in front of him. “You could just pay me more if you’re trying to motivate me.”

Shido laughed again and patted his shoulder roughly. “Don’t say that, you’ll make him sad!”

Akira felt Goro stiffen next to him. Probably because Shido apparently didn’t even remember his name, he realised belatedly. “It’s not me making him sad,” Akira said before he could stop his stupid mouth.

Shido raised an amused brow. Akira felt Goro fling an arm around his shoulders, nearly making him fall sideways. “What are you even saying? Drink some more water, you lightweight!”

Akira did as suggested once again and felt Goro’s arm slide away to rest against the back of the chair instead. Akira noticed one of the other execs was frowning in their direction.

“What?” he demanded belligerently.

The man looked affronted for a moment before being distracted by one of the girls sitting next to him. Akira guessed avoiding this kind of reaction was why Goro basically held him at arm’s length in this setting. But it seemed his priority had now changed to getting him to shut up.

Which wasn’t a bad idea, really…

Thankfully it seemed Shido was done grilling him and was now involving himself in the conversation the hostess had started up. Akira drank some more water before leaning over the table and massaging his forehead.

“Do you have a headache?” Goro asked loudly. It occurred to Akira almost too late that it’d be a perfect excuse to leave. At least temporarily, if not for the night. “You’re not going to throw up already, are you?”

He honestly had no idea how much he’d drunk since his glass kept getting refilled before he could finish it. He couldn’t even remember whether the round of shots he did recall had been the only one.

“I don’t know,” he muttered.

“Well that doesn’t sound very encouraging. Come on, I’ll take you to the bathroom, just in case.”

“Standing up sounds hard,” he mumbled. But in the end he managed to get vertical.

Goro looked annoyed, but Akira couldn’t tell if it was at him or not. “Excuse us for a little while,” Goro said before taking Akira’s elbow and leading him across the floor.

The bathroom was just as fancy as everything else in this place. Goro led him past the urinals and into the stall furthest from the door. Akira gratefully sat on the toilet before resting his head in his hands.

“I feel like shit.”

Goro pushed his fringe back and examined his face. “You look like it, too.”

“Gee, thanks.” Akira sighed. “How much have I even had to drink?”

“Too much, obviously.”

Akira shook his head at the unhelpful answer. “How do you do this every day?”

“By hoping I’ll have enough money to start living like a normal person before my liver or kidneys give,” Goro replied dryly. “It’s hard to encourage other people to drink when you aren’t doing so yourself.”

“Even when you’re that pretty?” Akira teased.

Goro shook his head. “Come on, you idiot. You must be even more wasted than I thought. Go wash your face.”

They left the cubicle when they were sure no one else was around and moved over to the sinks. Akira pushed his glasses onto his head before splashing water on his face and feeling ridiculously uncoordinated. Only once he was soaked did he realise he hadn’t seen a paper towel dispenser anywhere.

Goro turned him to face him, then dabbed at his face with what he soon realised was a handkerchief. “You got it on your shirt,” he pointed out as continued to dab down his neck and dry his collar.

“Didn’t mean to.”

“Evidently.”

Akira watched Goro’s expression as he concentrated on trying to make him presentable again. He was kind of embarrassed, but mostly all this was somehow endearing.

“Hey,” he said quietly, his words arriving at his mouth without stopping by in his brain once again. “Make sure I get home all right.”

Goro finished what he was doing and shoved the damp material back into a pocket. “That’s a bit forward for a second meeting, isn’t it?”

Akira huffed. “Not what I meant. Eat all my food and use all my hot water for all I care.”

“I won’t hold back,” he warned lightly.

“I’d expect nothing less.”

Although they weren’t even touching, they both felt the need to jump apart when someone stumbled through the door. He gave them an odd look before shuffling over to one of the urinals.

“We’d better get back out there for a few more hours. Then I’ll help you try to survive the hangover.”

Akira groaned at the reminder of what he was probably going to be like for most of tomorrow. But, even though they were on their way back to the last place Akira wanted to be, he soon found himself smiling once again.


End file.
